Merry Mama & Merry Mini Matching Long Sleeve Tees
I love all the festive holiday matching outfits this time of year! I’ll take any chance I can to put my mini me into a matching tee haha. You can wear these during the day with your favorite jeans or leggings, or throw on a pair of cozy pajama pants and you’ve got a set of matching pj’s!
Grab your favorite holiday beverage and follow the simple steps below. I promise you can do it!
You’ll need:
· Blank tee (I used these)
Hand lettered Design (grab the design here!)
· Heat Transfer Vinyl (I buy a roll of this since I use white all the time!)
· Cutting machine (I have a Cricut Explore Air 2)
· Iron or Heat Press (Cricut makes compact ones like these, I have a large professional heat press).
Step One: Hand Letter
I hand lettered the “merry mama” & “merry mini” designs on my iPad Pro using an Apple Pencil in the Procreate app. The Procreate app is so fun to work with and is truly limitless. I typed “merry” and then arranged the letters in an arc as shown. I then hand lettered the word “mama” and “mini” beneath.
I exported the design as a PNG file with a transparent background and sent it over to my computer to use in Cricut Design Space. You can grab my designs here!
Step Two: Cricut Design Space
I took my Cricut ruler to measure the size I wanted it to be on the tee. I’ll plan on my design being 11” wide for this project. I also measured my mini’s tee and decided on 9” wide for her design.
Upload your designs (you can grab them here!) into Design Space and resize them to fit the tees. “Merry Mama” is 11” wide and “Merry Mini” is 9” wide.
Click the green “Make it” button and then on the next page, select “Mirror”. This flips the image so that it can be ironed on!
Step Two: Cut
Place your heat transfer vinyl on the cutting mat with the shiny side facing down. Load the mat into your machine. Press start & watch the magic happen!
Step Three: Weed
Use the weeding tool to remove the extra vinyl from around the cut images. Make sure to remove all the tiny pieces from inside the letters.
After weeding the extra vinyl, you’ll be left with your design and the clear carrier on top. Your sticky side should be the side that goes on the tee.
Step Four: Iron On
Lay your design down on your tees and decide how you want to center them. Smooth out any wrinkles on the tees.
I use a Power Heat Press (you can find one here) for this, but you can also use a hand-held laundry iron that you have on hand. Cricut also makes compact heat presses as well.
Center your design on the shirt. Place a teflon sheet or thin towel on top of your design. Use the hot iron or heat press to place firm steady pressure for 15-20 seconds. The trick here is the pressure you place on the design. You want it to fully adhere to the fabric.
Repeat this step once or twice more. You’ll know the vinyl is embedded in the fabric when you can see the fibers in the texture of the vinyl. This will ensure your design lasts wash after wash!
Once cool, remove the thin carrier sheet to reveal your design!
Hooray! You did it!
If you try this DIY be sure to share a picture in the comments below or over on social media using the hashtag #brittanylettering! For even more ideas, follow @brittanylettering , @officialcricut and @expressionsvinyl over on Instagram!
Be sure to head over to the Etsy shop to find even more designs for your fun holiday projects!
Happy crafting!
XO Brittany